Melioidosis is an infectious disease caused by a Gram-negative bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, found in soil and water. Melioidosis is endemic in parts of the world including Southeast Asia (including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Burma and Vietnam), Taiwan and northern Australia. Multiple cases have also been described in southern China and Hong Kong, Brunei, India, and Laos, and sporadic cases in Central and South America, the Middle East, the Pacific and several African countries. Estimates of the global infections are most likely underestimated due to the lack of proper microbiological laboratories. In northeast Thailand, B. pseudomallei is the cause of 20% of all community-acquired septicemias with a mortality rate of 50%. The bacterium is also responsible for 40% of all mortality due to sepsis in this same geographical region. In regions of northern Australia, where intensive care treatment is more readily available, the mortality rate is still unacceptably high at 20%. Moreover, relapse rates can be as high as 25%.